Azercosmos to provide services to Tanzania
By Rasana Gasimova
Azercosmos, Azerbaijan’s satellite operator and Tanzanian digital satellite services provider Azam TV signed a cooperation agreement on December 24.
The agreement provides for the provisions of Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT) services to the territory of Tanzania, Azercosmos reported.
Speaking about the agreement, Mark Guthrie, Chief Commercial Officer of Azercosmos said that the company is very pleased to cooperate with the leading digital satellite service provider of East Africa, Azam TV.
“This agreement is a symbol of our desire to deliver highly-reliable satellite services jointly with our partners to the people of Tanzania,” he noted.
“We are pleased to partner with Azercosmos in our DTT services infrastructure to provide top quality TV broadcast to our viewers. Azerspace-1 was our satellite of choice based on its position & reliability over the East African region,” said Abubakar Said Salim Bakhresa, Executive Director Said Salim Bakhresa & Co Ltd.
Azercosmos, the only satellite operator in the Caucasus. Almost all profits (90 percent) of the company account for satellite services. The U.S., France, Malaysia, the UK, Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the company’s main customers.
Currently, Azercosmos operates Azerspace-1, Azerspace-2 geostationary satellites and low-altitude AzerSky satellite.
The first satellite of Azerbaijan, Azerspace-1, was launched into space in 2013 from the Kuru cosmodrome in South America. At present, its service area includes countries of Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The income from using the first telecommunications satellite has amounted to $72 million.
Azercosmos launched the new satellite Azerspace-2 on September 25, 2018, from ELA-3 platform in Guiana Space Center located in French Guiana. Its service area covers the countries of Europe, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The satellite reached its test orbit on December 18, 2018. The new satellite allowed Azercosmos to serve customers from the U.S., the UAE and Tanzania.
This year, Azercosmos has started commercial exploitation of the resources of Azerspace-2. The projected revenue for the current year from the commercial sale of the satellite resources is $16.5 million. The lifetime of the satellite in orbit is 20 years.
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